CAREER: Optical Single Atom Detection for Nuclear Astrophysics

职业：核天体物理学的光学单原子探测

• 批准号: 1654610
• 负责人: Jaideep Singh
• 金额: $ 80万
• 依托单位: Michigan State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-02-01 至 2024-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1654610&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Optical; Single; Atom; Detection

This award supports the development, construction, and commissioning of an optical microscope capable of imaging individual atoms that are captured inside a thin film of frozen neon. Initially, this single atom microscope will capture and count the number of magnesium atoms produced in collisions of neon and helium atoms. Detailed measurements of these rare collisions will help explain the origin and abundance of copper, silver, and other heavy chemical elements. Because the single atom microscope will increase the sensitivity of these types of measurements by at least a factor of one hundred, laboratory experiments that mimic the conditions inside of stars where these elements are produced will be possible for the first time. In parallel, the PI will develop a modular planetarium program that describes how the chemical elements are formed inside of stars. These modules will be presented within the context of a virtual tour of the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, which emphasizes how research being conducted at the Lab impacts our understanding of this process and how this research is beneficial to society.The primary research goal of this project is to develop and commission a single atom microscope for measuring rare nuclear reactions that are relevant for nuclear astrophysics. The recoil products will be captured within the noble gas solid and then optically detected using resonant laser excitation and single photon detectors. A single atom microscope designed for magnesium, when coupled with a recoil separator, would allow for measurements of neon-helium nuclear fusion reactions with at least a hundred fold improvement in sensitivity. These reactions play a key role in the production of neutrons that drives the slow neutron capture process (s-process) inside of massive stars, which is responsible for the creation of about half of the heavy elements between mass 60 and 90 including copper and silver. Steps for this project include demonstrating optical single atom detection of ytterbium in solid neon, calibrating the efficiency, sensitivity, and selectivity of the technique, and finally building and commissioning a single atom microscope for measuring the nuclear reactions that produce magnesium atoms. Critical steps include a detailed understanding of the optical backgrounds produced by impurities in the various optical components, optical spectroscopy of ytterbium and magnesium in solid noble gases, and the design of a high light collection efficiency diffraction-limited optical imaging system.

该奖项支持光学显微镜的开发、建造和调试，该显微镜能够对冷冻氖薄膜内捕获的单个原子进行成像。最初，这种单原子显微镜将捕获并计算氖原子和氦原子碰撞中产生的镁原子的数量。 对这些罕见碰撞的详细测量将有助于解释铜、银和其他重化学元素的起源和丰度。 由于单原子显微镜将使这些类型的测量的灵敏度提高至少一百倍，因此模拟恒星内部产生这些元素的条件的实验室实验将首次成为可能。 与此同时，PI 将开发一个模块化天文馆程序，描述恒星内部的化学元素是如何形成的。这些模块将在国家超导回旋加速器实验室虚拟参观的背景下呈现，强调实验室进行的研究如何影响我们对这一过程的理解以及这项研究如何对社会有益。该项目的主要研究目标是开发和委托单原子显微镜来测量与核天体物理学相关的稀有核反应。反冲产物将被捕获在惰性气体固体内，然后使用共振激光激发和单光子探测器进行光学检测。为镁设计的单原子显微镜与反冲分离器结合使用，可以测量氖氦核聚变反应，灵敏度至少提高一百倍。 这些反应在中子的产生中发挥着关键作用，中子驱动大质量恒星内部的慢中子俘获过程（s过程），该过程负责产生大约一半质量在60到90之间的重元素，包括铜和银。 该项目的步骤包括演示固体氖中镱的光学单原子检测，校准该技术的效率、灵敏度和选择性，最后建造和调试用于测量产生镁原子的核反应的单原子显微镜。关键步骤包括详细了解各种光学元件中的杂质产生的光学背景、固体惰性气体中镱和镁的光谱，以及高光收集效率衍射极限光学成像系统的设计。

项目成果

Detection of atomic nuclear reaction products via optical imaging

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevc.99.065805
• 发表时间: 2019-03
• 期刊: Physical Review C
• 影响因子: 3.1
• 作者: Benjamin Loseth;Ruoyu Fang;Dustin Frisbie;Kristen M Parzuchowski;C. Ugalde;J. Wenzl;J. Singh